The Stop RIAA Lawsuits boycott started today and is already getting a lot of attention.

But it's not only to let the RIAA and its owners, the Big record labels, know they can't screw people and get away with it forever.

The RIAA lawsuits are quite literally driving families into bankruptcy, but if we (the people who used to buy the labels' CDs) can help people who are being sued, we take the punch out of the RIAA tactics. Make a contribution to the Peer-to-Peer Legal Defense Fund and read a few quotes from people being sued.

The boycott is all about showing the major labels that suing fans is bad business. Help make it stick by checking out RIAA Radar to see if a CD you're thinking about buying was made by one of the Big Five labels.

And supporting independent record labels (who don't sue their fans) is another way to help change the music industry for the better and with that in mind, below is a (very biased ; ) list of great indy record labels.

If you should be on the list (or if you have any other ideas) :
stopRIAAlawsuits(at)downhillbattle(dot)org.

Saddle Creek The Omaha Nebraska music family. Check out the Faint if you like 80s music. Bright Eyes is among the best American music in the past 10 years.
Def Jux Possibly the best independent hip hop label. Mr. Lif brought creative instrumentation back to underground hip hop.
GoKart Records This punk rock label is waging it's own campaign against the RIAA: they're giving out free downloads of several current releases. They've also released a 150 band, 300-song compilation that will be the first ever mp3 CD in record stores (and it's a double CD!) If you listen to this comp, you will never want to listen to major label pop-punk again.
K Records Calvin Johnson from the lo-fi rock band Beat Happening started this label back in the eighties, and this is one of those labels where everything on it is good. Allstars include: Mirah, the Microphones, and Wolf Colonel
Coup D'Etat Hip Hop. This is a hot label, with a hot name, and a hot webpage. Make sure you listen to the "15-minute mix"
Warp Records Excellent electronic music. But even if you don't like electronic music, check out Broadcast (60s pop), or Anti Pop Consortium (hip hop). There is enough stuff on this site to keep you listening for days. The radio mixes are all amazing.
Dischord The guy who started this punk and hardcore label, Ian McKaye, is a personal hero to quite a lot of people, and his bands (Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring) are all worth hearing.
Magnatune This is an online label with a wide range of genres represented (including classical, and jazz). You can download albums at true CD quality, and the artist always gets half.
Fivetrees Another interesting online music venture which is a sort of cross between a record label and a webhosting service. They specialize in English folk music.
Secretly Canadian This is another great midwestern rock label. Songs: Ohia is devastatingly good acoustic rock.
Polyvinyl Check out "Mates of State". The girl's on the organ, the guy's on the drums, and they're experts at duets.
Fujichia This punk/electronic label has amazing things to offer the world, and good stuff to say about music. Investigate.Dischord The guy who started this punk and hardcore label, Ian McKaye, is a personal hero to quite a lot of people, and his bands (Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring) are all worth hearing.
Magnatune This is an online label with a wide range of genres represented (including classical, and jazz). You can download albums at true CD quality, and the artist always gets half.
Fivetrees Another interesting online music venture which is a sort of cross between a record label and a webhosting service. They specialize in English folk music.
Secretly Canadian This is another great midwestern rock label. Songs: Ohia is devastatingly good acoustic rock.
Polyvinyl Check out "Mates of State". The girl's on the organ, the guy's on the drums, and they're experts at duets.
Fujichia This punk/electronic label has amazing things to offer the world, and good stuff to say about music. Investigate.

Also, I take no small amount of pride in pointing anyone to my Top 2000 Indie Downloads of free, legal downloadable music from among the top 8 download sites on the Web:
http://fatchucks.com/z1.html#2000

Not available anywhere else and no major labels.

what about remakes. I'm not sure what the copyright law is on remaking a song. bands do it all the time. what if a group of indie bands recorded remakes of popular songs that the public loves along with their own origionals. Maybe I'm just blowing smoke here but I thought it may be an interesting idea for those music lovers who like the songs but don't want to support the RIAA. if it's allowed under copyright law it could drive the industry crazy.

Doing cover songs is ok if you have a license from the George Fox Agency. Its an inexpensive-no hassel process.

hell yeah! Saddle Creek kicks ass!

oh yeah, and Cursive is SOOO much better than Bright Eyes. At least I think so.

KWIVER
kwiver.dmusic.com

chophouserecords.com
what should be another website joining the StopRIAAlawsuits. (It's indie after all)

Don't anybody get their knickers in a twist. The song list isn't meant to be representative of anything. It is, as the story says, "a (very biased ; ) list". DMusic has a ton of good stuff, as Chuck points out, his site is crammed with music, and there's a LOT of other stuff out there.

oh...I wasn't taking issue with Bright Eyes...just saying that Cursive, another Saddle Creek band, kicks more tail than Bright Eyes.

you forgot another indy record label, "side one dummy"